This invention relates to a method and apparatus for removing filter tips from scrap filter tipped cigarettes at high speed while avoiding degradation of the tobacco.
In the manufacture of cigarettes, some substandard cigarettes will be produced, i.e., cigarettes having insufficient amounts of tobacco or unevenly distributed tobacco, and some cigarettes will be damaged during the manufacturing process. These cigarettes are rejected before being packaged to ensure that the cigarettes that reach the consuming public will be of the highest quality. Although these cigarettes are rejected, the tobacco contained therein is perfectly suitable for use in a cigarette. Therefore, cigarette manufacturers have employed various methods to reclaim the tobacco from cigarettes rejected during the manufacturing process.
In order to reclaim tobacco from rejected filter cigarettes successfully, it is necessary to remove the filter tip portion from the cigarettes. Many devices have been employed to detip filter cigarettes. However, all of these prior art detipping devices require that the cigarettes be carefully oriented, generally with the filter tip portion of the cigarettes all facing in one direction. This is necessary to ensure that the filters are completely removed from the cigarettes, that the filters are not cut which would allow the filter material to contaminate the tobacco and that the tobacco in the tobacco rod is not cut rendering the tobacco unusable for another cigarette.
The requirement that the cigarettes be fed into the detipping device in one particular orientation is undesirable because careful handling of the cigarettes is required to ensure proper alignment. However, even with careful handling of the cigarettes, with the high speed at which these detipping machines operate, there are bound to be a substantial number of cigarettes that are improperly oriented as they are fed into the detipping machine. The result will be substantial numbers of cigarettes having the tobacco rod cut with a portion of the tobacco rod still attached to the filter tip or substantial numbers of cigarettes having the filter cut causing the filter material to contaminate the tobacco to be reclaimed.
In addition to the aforementioned problems with prior art detipping devices, another problem is that these detipping devices cannot adequately process broken or bent cigarettes. These cigarettes must be removed for processing by other means prior to being fed into the detipping device.
It would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for detipping cigarettes that do not require the cigarettes to be fed into the detipping device with the filter tips all facing in one direction.
It also would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for detipping cigarettes that will remove the filter tips from the cigarettes without degradation of the tobacco.
It further would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus that will detip cigarettes without filter material contaminating the tobacco regardless of the orientation of the cigarettes in the detipping device.
It still further would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for detipping cigarettes at high speeds.
It yet further would be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for detipping cigarettes that will allow the removal of broken or bent cigarettes to prevent interference with the detipping of whole cigarettes.